Introduction to SNAplus2

SNAplus2 Resources

 

The local node can have an explicit link station defined for its

 

communication path to another node on the SATF, but enabling

 

communications between every pair of nodes on the SATF requires a

 

large number of link station definitions, and results in a large volume of

 

network topology information flowing on the network.

 

APPN enables you to set up this type of configuration without having to

 

define each link station explicitly, by defining a connection network (CN)

 

that represents the SATF. For each node on the SATF, you define one or

 

more ports used to access the connection network. Instead of defining a

 

link station to each remote node, you specify the name of a virtual

 

routing node (VRN) as part of the port definition.

 

You can think of the VRN as an imaginary node that represents all the

 

other nodes on the SATF; you can give it any name you like, but all nodes

 

on the SATF must use the same VRN name (and it must not match the

 

name of any of the real nodes on the SATF). The local node can establish

 

communications with any other node that has a port associated with the

 

same CN, by accessing the VRN (which represents all the other nodes

 

attached to the SATF), instead of requiring an explicitly defined

 

communications path between each pair of nodes.

 

When two nodes on the SATF need to communicate and both have a port

 

defined with the same VRN name, APPN can dynamically establish a

 

direct connection between them; you do not need any additional

 

configuration.

 

Because the connection is direct and does not need to go through any

 

intermediate nodes, using a connection network reduces traffic on the

 

LAN and improves performance. You should use connection networks

 

wherever possible to take advantage of this.

 

You can define CNs for communications using token ring, FDDI or

 

Ethernet DLCs.

 

To use this feature, you first define a DLC and port for each node that

 

accesses the SATF, and indicate that the port should be defined on the

 

connection network. You do not need to define any link stations;

 

SNAplus2 sets up a dynamic link station to the CN (and hence to any

 

port on it) when required.

 

In the Motif administration program, CNs are not shown as a separate

NOTE

 

resource, but are included as part of the configuration of SATF ports.

 

 

Chapter 2

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